It may not be the first iPad app issued by a credit union, butNavy Federal's new iPad app – released Monday – is intended to be afrom-the-ground-up revisiting of what the nation's largest creditunion's members want from a tablet app, said assistant vicepresident for eChannels Meghan Gound.

The $54 billion Navy started work on the app about 18 monthsago, said Gound, who stressed, “We do our development in-house.”That work sometimes involved a project management team of as manyas 60, she said, but in Navy's views, the stakes are large: “Thisis about reinforcing our connections with our members. We wanted anapp that is useful and convenient,” said Gound.

Many dozens of credit unions already have iPad apps in Apple'sApp Store but many of those are in effect simply slightly modifiedand enlarged iPhone apps. The Navy Federal app is different, Goundsaid.

“We have built in substantial content and features,” said Gound,and the point is to take advantage of the comparatively largescreen.

Case in point: Navy Federal's YouTube videos are viewable withinthe app. So are the institution's social media streams as well as aNavy Federal blog. “We have also brought in financial educationinformation,” said Gound who added that “there just is a lot morefunctionality in this app. We have improved upon everything becausepeople spend a lot more time in sessions on their iPad.”

That is important, she explained, because in less than fouryears (Navy introduced its first app in 2010),“we have watched our mobile traffic really take off. Mobile is now67% of our online volume and it is continuing to grow,” saidGound.

Around one million Navy Federal members (out of a total of 4.3million for the Virginia-based credit union) are active users, saidGound.

She added, “We have watched our tablet traffic in particularkeep growing. iPad traffic is 22 to 25% of our total mobiletraffic.”

Presently, said Gound, the institution does not see sufficientAndroid tablet traffic to warrant a dedicated app, but it monitorsthe numbers and “when we see the traffic we will be prepared tomove very quickly.”

In the first version of Navy's iPad app, members will be unableto file loan applications and they also cannot add new payees tobill payment, but “that may come. We have plans to introduce newfunctionality in a future release,” said Gound.

As for marketing the app, Navy will announce its availability onsocial media, also at branches, and, said Gound, the institutionanticipates fast adoption. “An iPad app has been one of things mostrequested by our members.”